pam.  John  P, 

8.  AKEft, 



Successes  and  Opportunities 

in  Evangelizing  the  World 


Catin  America 

Rev.  CHARLES  W.  DREES,  D.D. 

San  J uan,  Porto  Rico 


THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY  OF  THE 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
RINDGE  LITERATURE  DEPARTMENT 
150  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


/Z'f'Z- 

Voucher 


Successes  and  Opportunities  in 
Latin  America. 

REV.  CHARLES  W.  DREES,  D.D. 


There  is  a Latin  America  as  there  is  an  Anglo-Saxon 
America,  and  these  two  descriptive  appellations  will 
probably  remain  applicable  to  the  lands  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  to  the  end  of  time.  It  was  not  always 
clear  that  such  would  be  the  case.  Take  your  posi- 
tion at  the  middle  point  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  the  English  speech,  and  the 
Protestant  religion  were  limited  to  a narrow  strip  of 
territory  between  the  summits  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  To  the  northward  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  territory  drained 
by  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes,  were  French ; Span- 
iard and  Frenchman  occupied,  explored,  divided,  and 
disputed  the  vast  territories  drained  by  the  Mississippi 
and  its  tributaries.  Florida  was  Spanish,  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  was  a Spanish  lake. 

Wolff  dying  upon  the  Plains  of  Abraham  in  1759  set- 
tled the  question  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  all  British 
America  became  the  heritage  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  of 
his  speech  and  of  his  faith. 

In  1803  Napoleon,  thinking  to  disappoint  his  enemies, 
ceded  the  Louisiana  Territory  to  the  United  States,  and 
the  Mississippi,  long  vexed  only  by  the  canoe  of  the 
French  voyager  and  the  Franciscan  and  Jesuit  friar, 
2 


and  later  granting  only  a grudging  passage  to  the  flat- 
boats  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  became  a 
highway  of  commerce,  bearing  the  multiplied  products 
which  constitute  the  rich  tribute  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  assuring  at  the  same  time  the  ultimate  spread  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  over  the  vast  plains  of  the  interior,  the 
summits  of  the  Rockies  and  the  Pacific  slope. 


Growth  of  a Nation 

In  1820  Florida  is  added  to  our  national  domain  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ceases  to  be  a Spanish  lake.  In 
1853,  as  the  ultimate  issue  of  a war  undertaken  at  the 
dictation  of  the  slave  power,  the  Providence  who  makes 
even  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him  gave  to  us  our 
present  southern  boundary,  widening  the  territory  ac- 
quired by  conquest  in  1848,  which  had  already  begun  to 
pour  into  the  lap  of  civilization  the  unmeasured  gold  of 
California.  Our  civil  war  consecrated  this  vast  in- 
heritance to  freedom  and  wiped  out  the  darkest  blot 
upon  our  Christian  civilization,  securing  the  perma- 
nency and  growth  of  free  institutions  having  their 
foundation  stone  in  the  living  Word  of  God.  Thus  had 
“the  little  one  become  a thousand  and  the  small  one 
a strong  nation,”  and  the  persecuted  and  despised  en- 
tered into  his  inheritance.  It  only  remained  that  the 
brief  spasm  of  war  in  1898  should  assure  to  the  future 
of  America  the  control,  without  menace  from  Euro- 
pean power,  of  the  great  lines  of  commerce  destined  to 
circle  the  world  and  to  unite  America  north  and  south 
by  the  opening  of  a water  way  through  the  interconti- 
nental isthmus.  Thus  Cuba  becomes  American  in 
spirit  and  in  institutions,  while  Porto  Rico,  bearing 
upon  her  loftiest  summits  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  holds 
the  key  to  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
commanding  every  channel  of  access  to  these  mighty 
waters  from  the  mightier  ocean,  and  assuring  to  com- 
3 


merce  and  to  civilization  unfettered  development  in 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  our  Western  civilization. 

Thus  have  there  come  to  be  an  Anglo-Saxon  America 
and  a Latin  America  sharing  the  vast  areas  of  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere.  It  needs  not  that  our  American 
nationality  pursue  an  aggressive  policy  looking  to  ter- 
ritorial expansion.  For  a century  a milder  conquest 
has  been  in  progress  : The  conquest  of  the  idea,  of  the 
spirit.  For  a hundred  years  Latin  America  has  been 
learning  of  Anglo-Saxon  America.  Its  best  inspiration, 
the  vital  forces  that  have  molded  constitutions,  juris- 
prudence, and  administration  have  gone  forth  from  the 
republic  of  the  North.  The  growing  sentiment  of 
unity  of  interest  and  of  destiny  is  more  and  more  bind- 
ing together  the  extremes  of  this  Western  world. 


Territorial  Extent  of  Latin  America 

Look  now  at  the  territorial  extent  of  Latin  America. 
It  offers  a spectacle  equal  in  superficial  area  to  Anglo- 
Saxon  America.  It  offers  a spectacle  of  a family  of 
nations.  Mexico  at  the  north,  Argentina  and  Chile  at 
the  south,  the  former  equal  to  one  fourth  of  the  area 
of  the  United  States,  and  Argentina,  together  with  Para- 
guay, equaling  the  whole  extent  embraced  between  the 
summits  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  those  of  the 
Rockies.  Brazil,  with  its  mighty  Amazon,  holds  a re- 
gion vaster  than  our  United  States,  apart  from  Alaska 
and  our  island  possessions.  Take  the  States  of  Minne- 
sota, Iowa,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana ; divide 
them  along  the  line  of  the  meridian  drawn  through 
their  centers,  join  the  two  strips  end  to  end,  and  you 
have  a territory  somewhat  like  that  of  Chile,  2,800  miles 
long,  a distance  equal  to  that  from  Puget  Sound  to 
Panama.  Take  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  ; 
add  to  them  Texas,  vaster  than  all  the  four  together, 
and  you  have  a territory  equal  to  that  of  Colombia. 

4 


>oii via,  and  Peru  ; each  one,  Bpreaa  out  over  our  terri- 
tory, would  cover  as  large  a space,  while  Venezuela  is 
larger  than  any  one  of  these.  Add  to  all  these  the 
little  group  of  nations  in  Central  America  and  the  is- 
lands of  the  sea,  and  you  have  an  area  of  more  than 
eight  millions  of  square  miles,  the  heritage  of  a people 
numbering  more  than  fifty  millions  of  souls.  Such  is 
Latin  America,  its  extent  and  population. 

This  population  from  Mexico  to  the  Straits  of  Magel- 
lan is  practically  of  one  race  and  speech.  Whatever 
the  mingling  of  aboriginal  blood  or  the  influx  of  Euro- 
pean population,  Central  and  South  America  are  pre- 
dominantly Spanish  and  Portuguese,  of  Latin  stock,  as 
North  America  is  predominantly  Anglo-Saxon.  It 
might  be  said  that  as  the  mingling  of  the  nations  in  our 
own  country  is  producing  a composite  type,  new  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  so  the  mingling  of  the  races  in 
South  America,  especially  in  the  vast  plains  of  the 
Plata,  is  producing  a composite  type  whose  character- 
istics are  determined  by  the  currents  of  Latin  blood. 

At  about  the  same  period  the  action  began  of  the 
forces  which  have  determined  this  development,  south- 
ward and  ever  southward  have  flowed  the  tides  of  the 
Latin  race  in  this  new  migration,  while  westward  and 
ever  westward  the  star  of  Anglo-Saxon  empire  has 
taken  its  way.  It  seems  as  though  the  God  who  metes  out 
to  the  nations  their  habitation  has  so  divided  the  herit- 
age of  this  Western  world  that  the  future  of  each  of 
these  great  races  should  here  find  its  widest  expansion 
and  its  largest  development. 


Two  Types  of  Religious  Faith 

And  what  is  true  of  race  and  language  is  true  of  re- 
ligious faith.  Columbus,  landing  upon  the  shores  of 
Guanahani,  planted  the  standard  of  the  cross,  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  tonsured  priest  and  hooded  monk  represent- 
5 


ing  a theory  of  Christianity  which  exalts  the  priest  and 
the  sacrament  in  the  hands  of  the  priest,  erecting  thus 
in  the  Church  as  an  institution  an  indispensable  medi- 
ary  for  the  communication  of  divine  grace  to  human 
souls.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers,  landing  upon  the  “rock- 
bound  shores  of  New  England,”  bearing  in  their  hands 
the  open  Bible  and  seeking  direct  communication  of 
the  soul  with  God,  through  the  one  Mediator  and  only 
High  Priest,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  represented  Protes- 
tant Christianity  in  its  fullest  power  and  with  all  its  pos- 
sibilities. 

In  this  last  contrast  appears  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple that  compels  and  inspires  our  mission  work  in 
Latin  America.  It  is  the  old  issue,  never  entirely  lost 
sight  of  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  between  sacerdo- 
talism and  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers.  The 
conflict  was  renewed  and  became  vital  in  the  history  of 
Christendom  with  the  Protestant  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  was  then  that  the  lines  were 
drawn  and  two  great  interpretations  of  the  Christian 
system  began  the  debate  that  wras  to  issue  in  the  de- 
termination as  to  which  is  the  true  expression  of  the 
faith  as  it  is  in  Christ.  The  vast  conflict  was  begun  in 
Europe,  but  in  Europe  it  could  not  be  fought  out  on 
equal  terms.  Romanism,  intrenched  for  a thousand 
years,  with  untold  wealth  at  its  command,  and  joining 
its  claims  with  the  assumptions  and  the  greed  of  human 
world-powers,  offered  an  impassable  barrier  for  three 
centuries  to  the  advance  of  Protestanism.  In  the  prov- 
idence of  God  this  conflict  is  to  be  fought  out  to  its 
final  issue  in  these  Americas. 

For  three  centuries  Romanism  and  Protestantism  de- 
veloped, each  according  to  its  own  genius,  in  this  West- 
ern world,  and  he  who  runs  may  read  these  centuries. 

For  these  centuries  the  action  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion upon  the  Latin  race  vTas  wholly  paralyzed.  It  was 
not  until  the  vindication  of  the  open  Bible  by  the  Luth- 
6 


eran  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  comple- 
mented by  the  vindication  of  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  rights  of  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness in  the  Wesleyan  Reformation  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  that  Protestantism  could  go  forth  in  vital  power 
to  accomplish  in  the  new  era  of  the  reformation  the 
unity  of  Christendom  in  loyalty  to  God’s  holy  word  and 
in  the  experience  of  salvation  certified  by  the  witness  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility 

And  it  was  not  until  the  cap-stone  of  the  Roman  sys- 
tem was  brought  forth  with  shoutings,  when  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  pope  was  proclaimed  from  the  balcony  of 
St.  Peter’s  in  Rome,  that  the  providence  of  God  struck 
the  hour  for  the  renewal  of  the  advance  movement  of 
Protestantism  both  in  Europe  and  America.  The  dog- 
ma of  the  papal  infallibility  determines  finally  and  irre- 
vocably, so  far  as  the  Roman  system  is  concerned,  its 
irreconcilable  conflict  with  the  word  of  God.  It  claims 
the  Bible,  God’s  gift  to  men  as  men,  as  the  book  of  the 
priest,  to  be  interpreted  in  no  other  way  than  as  au- 
thorized by  an  infallible  pope.  It  makes  Romanism  as 
a system  forever  irreformable  save  by  protest,  by  revo- 
lution. Since  then  God’s  message  to  his  children  living 
under  that  system  is,  “ Come  out  from  the  midst  of  her, 
that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  torments.” 

At  once  after  that  proclamation  the  issue  became  plain 
to  Christendom,  and  from  that  moment  there  was  borne 
in  upon  the  consciousness  of  Protestantism  its  mission 
to  proclaim,  with  the  open  Bible  in  hand,  the  birthright 
of  the  sons  of  God.  That  birthright  is  to  possess,  each 
man  for  himself,  the  word  of  God  and  to  experience, 
each  man  in  himself,  without  the  necessary  mediation 
of  priest  or  sacrament,  the  assurance  of  his  adoption 
into  the  divine  family. 


7 


The  Epochal  Year  of  1870 

Let  me  recall  to  you  the  astonishing  success  of  events 
in  that  epochal  year  of  1870.  Papal  Christendom  was 
in  convocation  at  the  Vatican  Council.  A question  of 
policy  affecting  the  destiny  of  the  Spanish  people, 
whose  history  has  been  so  interwoven  with  all  European 
politics  and  with  all  American  destiny,  was  agitating 
the  courts  of  Europe.  French  arms  supported  in 
Rome  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope.  Protestant 
Prussia  aspired,  in  dispute  with  Catholic  France,  to 
designate  an  occupant  for  the  vacant  Spanish  throne. 
The  Council  was  debating  the  project  for  the  definition  as 
a dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility.  The  courts  were  in  dis- 
pute as  to  a question  of  temporal  sovereignty.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  July,  the  final  vote  having  been  taken  in 
the  Council,  the  papal  infallibility  was  proclaimed  from 
the  balcony  of  St.  Peters.  Within  twenty-four  hours 
war  was  declared  between  Prussia  and  France.  After 
a campaign  of  less  than  forty-five  days,  French  arms 
went  down  in  defeat  before  the  arms  of  united  Germany, 
a Germany  united  in  the  throes  of  conflict  and  under 
the  leadership  of  a Protestant  nation.  Louis  Napoleon 
dethroned  and  France  standing  upon  the  threshold  of 
its  new  history  as  a republic,  French  troops  could  no 
longer  maintain  the  pope  upon  his  temporal  throne. 
They  were  withdrawn  from  Rome,  and  on  the  twentieth 
of  September,  through  the  entrance  of  the  Porta  Pia, 
the  army  of  united  Italy  entered  the  Eternal  City  and 
the  temporal  power  of  the  popes  came  to  an  end  for- 
ever. 

A divinely  taught  leader  in  modern  missions  has  said: 
“ I do  not  hesitate  to  express  the  conviction  that,  as 
affecting  the  work  of  evangelical  missions,  this  fall  of 
the  temporal  power  of  the  pope  was  the  most  moment- 
ous event  of  modern  history,  for  it  made  papal  Christen- 
dom what  it  never  had  been  and  never  could  be  before 
8 


—an  open  and  accessible  field  for  preaching  the  Gospel 
of  the  Son  of  God.” 

Protestantism's  Mission  as  a Witness  to  Truth 

From  this  period  there  has  been  the  most  astonishing 
awakening  in  the  conviction  of  Protestant  Christians  as 
to  the  duty  of  bearing  witness  to  the  truth  among  the 
peoples  of  Homan  faith.  A marvelous  development 
had  prepared  the  way  in  many  of  the  countries  of 
Spanish  America  for  the  free  circulation  of  the  word  of 
God  and  the  open  proclamation  of  Gospel  truth.  Mex- 
ico, in  the  throes  of  a mighty  internal  conflict,  had 
proclaimed  religious  liberty  and  decreed  the  separation 
between  Church  and  State.  Argentina  after  long  inter- 
nal conflict  had  faced  the  issue,  and  under  a liberal  con- 
stitution, although  not  decreeing  formal  separation 
between  Church  and  State,  had  nevertheless  proclaimed 
freedom  of  speech,  of  the  press,  and  of  public  worship. 
Chile  by  a legislative  interpretation  of  the  unchanged 
letter  of  her  Constitution  had  opened  the  way  for  the 
public  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Brazil  under  its  liberal 
and  enlightened  emperor  had  taken  its  place  among  the 
progressive  nations  of  America,  guaranteeing  the  rights 
of  conscience  and  of  free  public  worship,  a transforma- 
tion soon  to  be  followed  by  a formal  separation  of 
Church  and  State.  In  the  other  nations  of  Central  and 
South  America  the  conflict  was  in  progress  with  vary- 
ing fortune,  and  it  only  needed  the  resolute  purpose  and 
undaunted  faith  of  some  messenger  of  the  truth  to  pry 
open  the  doors  and  give  entrance  to  the  light. 

Missionary  progress  in  Latin  America  has  thus  a 
definite  date  for  its  beginning  in  the  year  1870.  At 
that  date  there  were  scarcely  any  Protestant  missions  in 
Latin  America.  For  thirty  years  the  men  who  repre- 
sented our  own  Church  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  un- 
der pressure  of  restrictive  laws  or  executive  control 


which  forbade  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  and  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  had  con- 
fined their  operations  to  little  groups  of  English- 
speaking  people.  Small  beginnings  in  Brazil  and  Co- 
lombia numbered  their  congregations  upon  less  than  ten 
fingers  of  one’s  hands,  while  converts  from  the  native 
people  were  less  than  one  hundred. 

Progress  Made  in  Thirty  Years 

Such  progress  as  has  been  made  is  the  fruit  of  scarce 
thirty  years  of  effort.  Limiting  our  views  to  our 
own  Church,  the  Mexico  Mission  began  in  1873.  Spanish 
work  in  Argentina  was  inaugurated  in  1867,  but  did  not 
reach  its  period  of  rapid  development  until  1880.  Work 
in  Chile  began  in  1878,  in  Peru  in  1890,  while  work  in 
Paraguay,  Ecuador,  and  Bolivia  is  of  still  more  recent 
date. 

Note,  if  you  will,  the  main  lines  of  progress. 

1.  The  issue  has  been  defined.  It  is  the  issue  between 
the  open  Bible,  God’s  message  to  every  man,  and  the 
assumption  of  a Church,  placing  its  interpretation  of 
the  word  and  its  definitions  as  to  dogma  and  duty 
above  the  word  itself  as  received  by  a conscience 
illuminated  by  the  direct  light  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  It 
is  the  issue  between  the  birthright  of  the  sons  of  God, 
the  direct  access  of  the  soul  to  the  living  Christ  and 
through  him  to  the  heavenly  Father,  and  the  assump- 
tion of  priestly  prerogative  as  mediating  between  Sacer- 
dotalism and  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers  ; the 
issue  between  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Chris- 
tian consciousness  and  the  pretended  right  of  a human 
institution  to  determine  the  relation  of  a soul  to  God. 

2.  The  field  has  been  entered  and  measurably  occupied. 
Take  the  capitals  of  Spanish  America,  and  in  Mexico 
City,  Quito,  Lima,  La  Paz,  Santiago,  Buenos  Ayres, 
Montevideo,  Assumption,  and  San  Juan,  you  have  the 

10 


centers  of  Methodist  missionary  work  in  as  many 
nations,  each  the  center  of  multiplied  congregations  in 
actual  existence  or  in  early  prospect.  Our  sister  Meth- 
odism holds  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Havana,  Brazil  and 
Cuba. 

3.  We  have  determined  the  agencies.  The  circulation  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  without  note  or  comment,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  the 
multiplication  of  the  testimony  to  the  truth  by  the 
printed  page  through  our  mission  presses.  Education 
through  the  Christian  school,  training  up  the  youth  of 
our  own  Church  in  knowledge  and  in  piety,  preparing 
the  workers,  sons  of  the  people,  who  shall  go  forth  to 
proclaim  the  message  to  their  countrymen,  the  hospital 
with  its  multiplications  of  the  healing  miracles  ever  asso- 
ciated with  the  action  of  the  living  Christ. 

4.  We  have  developed  a plant , not  fully,  but  in  many 
places,  demonstrating  the  vantage  ground  given  to  the 
work  of  evangelization  by  the  church  edifice,  varying 
from  the  simple  chapel  of  pole  and  thatch,  of  wood  and 
tile,  to  the  stately  edifice  for  church  and  press  and 
school  of  which  such  notable  examples  are  afforded  in 
Mexico  City,  Santiago,  and  Buenos  Ayres. 

5.  We  have  discovered  the  men.  In  every  land,  from 
Mexico  to  Argentina,  the  Spirit  of  God  has  called  forth 
from  the  people  those  who  are  the  messengers  of  their 
countrymen.  Valderrama  and  his  companions  in  Mex- 
ico, Penzotti  in  Peru,  Venegas  in  Chile,  Thomson,  Tal- 
lon,  Howard,  Vazguez,  and  Abeledoin  Argentina — these 
are  typical  names  from  the  Conference  rolls  of  these 
Latin- American  countries.  As  always  in  the  history  of 
evangelization,  the  Spirit  of  God  exalts  those  “born  of 
the  people5’  and  the  witness  of  him  who  can  say,  “ One 
thing  I know ; whereas  I was  once  blind  now  I see,” 
makes  most  powerful  appeal  to  the  people. 

61  We  have  reached  and  are  reaching  the  people.  It  is  no 
longer  a question  as  to  whether  the  Gospel  is  needed  by 
11 


the  people,  or  whether  its  preaching  will  be  received. 
In  Latin  America  we  have  at  this  hour  not  less  than 

17.000  members  and  probationers  in  the  Methodist 
churches  of  our  own  denomination.  Add  to  this  the 

11.000  gathered  in  by  our  sister  Methodist  Church  of  the 
South  and  there  are  not  less  than  28,000  Methodists  of 
Latin  race,  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  speech  in  this 
Western  world.  Take  into  your  thought  the  thousands 
who  through  the  years  have  borne  steadfast  witness  to 
the  truth,  the  martyrs  who  in  Mexico  have  sealed  that 
witness  by  their  blood,  the  dying  testimonies  of  those 
who  have  been  able  to  say  with  John  Wesley,  “ The  best 
of  all  is,  God  is  with  us,”  and  we  may  surely  rejoice  in 
the  fact  that  God  has  not  left  himself  without  witnesses 
among  these  people,  but  has  given  many  seals  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Church.  If  we  were  to  state  the  relative  re- 
sults in  this  and  some  other  fields  dear  to  the  Church,  it 
will  appear  that  results  in  Latin  America  have  been  pro- 
portionate not  only  with  the  effort  expended  but  with  the 
fruits  elsewhere  gathered. 

7.  Incidental  results  of  far-reaching  consequence  enlarge 
our  view  of  the  scope  of  this  work  and  of  its  future 
promise.  Everywhere  the  presence  of  Protestantism 
has  stimulated  progress,  given  vigor  and  stability  to 
reform  movements,  inspired  new  enthusiasm  for  educa- 
tion, created  new  ideals  of  living,  increased  the  sum  of 
human  happiness.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Mex- 
ico the  presence  of  Protestant  missions  has  contributed 
to  the  permanency  of  the  freedom  and  progress  guaran- 
teed by  the  laws  of  reform.  Under  the  leadership  of  that 
missionary  hero,  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Wood,  marriage  laws  in 
Peru  and  in  Paraguay  have  been  modified  as  the  result  of 
urgent  argument,  appeal,  and  example,  until  it  is  now 
possible  in  these  countries  for  Protestant  Christians  to 
secure  the  sanction  of  the  civil  law  for  the  constitution  of 
the  families  without  the  sacrifice  of  their  conscientious 
convictions  by  yielding  to  the  demands  of  the  Roman 
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Church.  To  William  Goodfellow  and  to  Thomas  B. 
Wood  was  given  a large  place  in  organizing  the  modern 
educational  movements  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  and 
Peru.  The  former,  under  commission  from  the  Argen- 
tine government,  enlisted  the  first  body  of  American 
school-teachers  who  organized  the  magnificent  normal 
school  system,  projected  by  the  wisdom  and  patriotism 
of  President  Sarmiento. 

In  Peru,  in  Chile,  in  Argentina, Protestant  schools  have 
set  the  models  and  formed  the  ideals  of  public  education, 
while  immediately  upon  the  success  of  the  revolution  in 
Ecuador,  to  a Methodist  missionary,  Dr.  Wood,  was 
given  the  honor  of  enlisting  a body  of  teachers  to  as- 
sume direction  of  many  of  the  most  important  schools 
under  the  auspices  of  a liberal  government. 

In  Mexico,  where  our  Mission  has  for  years  pursued 
hard  after  the  ideal  of  an  elementary  school  associated 
with  every  church,  the  influence  of  these  schools  upon 
the  children  of  the  Indian  population  has  demonstrated 
the  capacity  of  these  children  for  the  highest  culture 
and  usefulness  as  citizens.  It  is  not  strange  that,  as  a 
result  of  the  position  taken  by  our  Protestant  move- 
ment in  these  countries,  public  esteem  has  been  assured, 
confidence  created.  Men  in  public  life  have  expressed 
the  highest  appreciation  of  the  influence  of  the  Protes- 
tant missions,  willingly  attending  upon  public  services 
and  functions,  and  declaring  in  not  a few  instances 
their  conviction  that  Protestantism  offers  clearest  as- 
surance for  the  future  greatness  of  their  countries. 

A Field  Open  to  Evangelization 

And  now,  what  shall  we  say  of  opportunity  and  need 
in  Latin  America  ? 

The  field  is  open.  From  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Straits 
there  is  scarcely  a region,  a province,  a district,  a rural 
neighborhood  where  the  Gospel  may  not  be  preached; 

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freely  in  most  places,  actually,  despite  local  restric- 
tions, in  certain  countries.  Notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  constitutions  and  laws  in  Peru  and  Bolivia  still 
brand  Protestants  as  heretics  and  put  Protestant  service 
under  the  ban  of  the  law,  it  is  possible  for  the  humble 
messenger  of  the  truth  to  go  preaching.  Doubtless  per 
secutions  in  isolated  instances  and  localities  still  occur 
and  may  be  repeated.  It  may  happen  again,  as  it  did 
within  two  years  past,  that  a Roman  bishop  in  Bolivia 
may  demand  the  death  penalty  for  a Protestant  worker 
for  no  other  offense  than  the  circulation  of  the  word  of 
God.  Others  may  be  compelled  to  lie  in  prison,  as  did 
Francis  Penzotti  in  Peru  for  eight  long  months,  for 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  people.  Protestant  schools 
will  doubtless  still  be  denounced  by  the  representatives 
of  the  hierarchy,  which  claims  exclusive  authority  over 
the  intellectual  as  well  as  over  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life  of  the  people.  Ignorant  fanatics  may  still  be  aroused 
by  the  appeals  of  an  ignorant  and  corrupt  priesthood. 
It  is  true,  nevertheless,  taking  the  field  in  its  length  and 
breadth,  that  Latin  America  is  an  open  field  for  the 
proclamation  of  the  Gospel. 

Specific  Needs 

What  are  the  specific  needs  of  this  great  and  impor- 
tant field  ? 

1.  Reinforcement  in  men,  to  enable  us  to  enter  open 
doors  and  more  completely  to  occupy  the  fields  already 
held. 

2.  The  appropriation  to  these  fields  of  the  moneys 
necessary  to  carry  to  their  completion  many  church- 
building enterprises  inaugurated  by  the  faith  and  con- 
secration of  the  people,  but  held  in  suspense  in  conse- 
sequence  of  their  poverty,  and  for  erecting  additional 
churches  as  the  need  arises. 

3.  Provision  for  hospitals  and  institutions  for  indus- 

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trial  training  in  the  important  centers  of  our  chief  mis- 
sion fields. 

4.  The  endowment  of  our  educational  institutions  in 
Puebla,  Mexico  ; in  Santiago,  Chile ; in  Buenos  Ayres, 
Argentina;  in  Lima,  Peru;  and  in  San  Juan,  Porto 
Rico. 

5.  The  enlargement  of  our  mission  presses  and  the 
provision  by  the  Book  Concern  at  home  for  the  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  the  Discipline,  Hymnal,  and 
standard  literature  of  this  Church  and  of  Protestantism 
in  the  Spanish  language. 

The  Irrepressible  Conflict 

“This  nation  cannot  continue  to  exist  half  slave  and 
half  free”  was  an  utterance  which,  coming  from  the 
lips  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  a great  crisis  of  our  coun- 
try’s history,  was  felt  by  the  conscience  of  the  American 
people  to  express  the  issue  of  an  irrepressible  conflict. 
May  it  not  be  said  with  equal  propriety  that  “ Christen- 
dom cannot  perpetually  exist  half  Romanist  and  half 
Protestant”  ? This  conflict,  too,  is  an  irreparable  one. 
Romanism  represented  by  its  hierarchy  so  recognizes 
and  does  not  hesitate  to  declare.  In  the  Syllabus  of 
Errors,  Pius  IX  gathered  up  and  reiterated  the  Church’s 
condemnation  of  the  great  doctrines  and  principles 
which  Protestantism  holds  essential  to  the  Gospel  and  to 
a truly  Christian  civilization.  Leo  XIII  denounced 
again  and  again  Protestantism  as  a pest.  We  cannot 
avoid  the  issue  if  we  would.  The  conflict  is  not  one  be- 
tween rival  ecclesiasticisms  or  great  hierarchial  institu- 
tions. It  is  the  conflict  between  essential  truth  and  the 
error  which  in  the  Roman  system  has  overlaid  it ; be- 
tween the  rights  of  the  Christian  consciousness  and  the 
assumption  of  a priestly  mediary  between  the  soul  and 
God.  If  we  so  interpret  prophecy  as  to  believe  that  the 
gigantic  system  of  popery  will  still  be  in  existence  at 
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tlie  “ times  of  the  end,”  we  are,  nevertheless,  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  before  those  times,  through  the  influence 
of  the  word  and  Spirit  of  the  Gospel,  Christ’s  people 
must  be  brought  “ together  in  one.”  The  issue  pro 
posed  in  our  campaign  for  the  evangelization  of  Latin 
America  is  nothing  short  of  the  unification  of  Chris- 
tendom in  loyalty  to  God’s  holy  word  and  personal  fel- 
lowship with  the  living  Christ.  The  weapons  of  our 
warfare  are  not  carnal.  We  do  not  use  physical  force 
nor  proscription  nor  persecution  in  any  form.  We  seek 
to  win,  not  compel.  We  must  go  forth  in  the  spirit  of 
our  Master  if  we  are  to  bring  people  to  him.  The  at- 
tractive power  will  be  found  in  a vital  experience  of 
personal  salvation  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  If  Christendom  can  be  united  in  its  divine 
Head,  as  proposed  by  himself,  it  will  then  go  forth  to 
accomplish  speedily  the  evangelization  of  the  great 
heathen  world. 


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